U.S.-CHINA COMMISSION ANNOUNCES SELECTION OF NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO LEAD ITS NINTH YEAR OF WORK
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kathy Michels – 202-624-1409
August 13, 2009 kmichels@uscc.gov
Washington, D.C. Chairman Carolyn Bartholomew and Vice Chairman Larry M. Wortzel, Ph.D., today announced the appointment of Michael R. Danis as the executive director of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Created in October 2000, the 12-member, bipartisan Commission reports to Congress on China’s trade and financial ties to the United States and the implications for U.S. national security.
Over the past 25 years, Mr. Danis served as a senior intelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency. Mr. Danis managed the agency’s technology transfer division; the U.S. government’s sole analytical entity tasked with producing intelligence assessments regarding all aspects of foreign acquisition of U.S. controlled technology and high-tech corporations. He also established and led a unique team of China technology specialists producing assessments on China’s military-industrial complex, and the impact of U.S. export-controlled and other foreign technology on Chinese weapons development programs. While serving in the U.S. Air Force, Mr. Danis was twice temporarily assigned to the office of the defense attaché in Beijing. He succeeds T. Scott Bunton, who had served as the Executive Director since 2005, and retired from federal service on April 29.
Chairman Bartholomew said: “It is a pleasure to announce the selection of Mike Danis as the Commission’s Executive Director. Mike will lead the Commission’s ninth year of work for the Congress in assessing the national security implications of trade between the United States and the Peoples’ Republic of China. I am confident that we will continue the Commission’s record of identifying and assessing for the Congress the cutting-edge issues affecting the U.S.-China relationship.” Vice Chairman Wortzel said: “Mike Danis is a perfect fit for the job. He has decades of experience on policy issues related to China and is a superb leader and manager, and we are looking forward to working with Mike.”
The Commission is required by law to submit to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, and to provide recommendations to Congress for legislative and policy changes. The Commission will conduct it’s final hearing of the 2009 report cycle on September 10, 2009, in Washington, DC, on the topic of “Freedom of Expression: China’s Control of Information and its Impact on the United States.” A full agenda will be available shortly on our website (www.uscc.gov.)
The Commission will release its 2009 Annual Report to Congress on November 19, 2009. The report editing sessions are open to the public, and are being conducted in Washington, DC. The next sessions are scheduled for September 23-24, 2009, October 7-8, 2009 and October 19-21, 2009. Information on the editing sessions, the Commission’s Annual Reports to Congress, transcripts of its public hearings, and research papers are available at www.uscc.gov.